A Certain Scientific Number Six
by tuvarkz
Summary: After six long months of physical recovery, the Number Six Level Five esper is released from the hospital, and he is ready for some action. Starts shortly after NT2.
1. Prologue

**This is a new fanfic I've conceived the idea for over the last month. The main story starts from NT3 onwards.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Toaruverse; because if I did, Kamikoto would have been a thing long ago. And there'd probably be more dragons.**

**Prologue: Unleash the Flames**

As the sixth morning of November began, a redhead boy, dressed in a hospital gown, was waiting patiently in his room. He smiled mischievously as he heard the massive "GUTS!" shout coming from the hospital's entrance. Gunha had probably decided to take a leap to the entrance. Hopefully he hadn't damaged the spare change of clothing he was supposed to bring.

A minute later, the door opened, as the cheerful esper gave a bear hug to his fellow Level 5, as he said: "Finally, Dairoku-kun! Your recovery is finally over!" He then took a step back, handling a bag to the sixth.

"Thanks for bringing my clothes, Gunha-kun! I've tired of this plain hospital gown for so long!" Attack Crash laughed as he quickly said: "I'll wait outside." Dairoku quickly put on a black shirt with a red dragon printed on it, jeans, and reinforced-sole sneakers.

As the boy left the room, he said: "Thanks for sending me all the manga, anime and videogames, Gunha. I wouldn't have made it for so long without anything to distact me."

"Oh, you should thank Shokuhou-san for the anime. She managed to get the discs before the full season had even finished airing!"

"Really? I should go thank Misaki-oneechan for that later!" The esper then asked, curious: "So, given that the outside news block on me is finally over, what happened in these last six months?"

"Oh, there's a lot I need to tell you about that."

"Really? Sigh, the doctors really took the information block seriously."

"Dairoku, we both know that if word of any big fight had reached your ears, you would never have completed the recovery program after you recovered consciousness."

A few minutes later, the duo reached at the entrance of the hospital, where a frog-faced doctor was waiting. Heaven Canceler sighed, as he said: "Himizu-san, it's been six long months since you got brought in here. Try not to get hurt anytime soon, alright?"

"Alright, Gekota-sensei, I'll try not to lose any battles soon!"

"Well, with the way you recovered, you might as well be a Phoenix."

"Phoenix? I'm no flimsy bird! If any mythical being needs to be associated to me, it must be the Dragon!"

"By the way, you will not be losing a school year."

"Really!?" The level Five's eyes shone brightly for a moment.

"You have one week before having to return to classes, but for the remainder of the month, you'll have a private tutor for four hours every night from today onwards." The doctor handled a sealed letter to the redhead. "Here, there's your tutor's name and photo inside."

"What!? Why couldn't I have a tutor while I was recovering?"

"We could not afford any news to be accidentally leaked or for you to figure out something by accident."

* * *

Kumokawa Seria received a message as she enjoyed her breakfast. Shortly after, a scream of frustration was heard around the entire block. "Can't someone else handle this problem child?"

Somewhere else in Academy City, Tsukuyomi Komoe felt a slight shiver in her spine.

* * *

Last Order noticed Yomikawa Aiho suddenly stopping her motions, as if fearing something.

"Is everything fine? Misaka asks as Misaka wonders about her guardian's sudden reaction to an unknown factor."

* * *

As the two level Five espers left the hospital grounds, Heaven Canceler scratched the back of his head, as he commented: "The day that half the Board of Directors dreaded has come. We are unleashing Quantum Fire on the city once again."

* * *

Shokuhou Misaki was enjoying a cup of tea in the balcony of a fine restaurant, in complete calm. She then heard a shout coming from above: "Thirty-five!"

Moments later, a figure started falling, and a small explosion of flames could be seen beneath its feet, reducing the falling boy's momentum: "Thirty-six!"

The same cheerful voice then greeted: "Good morning, Misaki-chan! I'm finally done with my physical rehabilitation!"

"It is a pleasure to see you again, Himizu-kun." Misaki trusted the sixth, since the boy didn't need to have his mind read, as he expressed any thoughts he had openly and without holding back anything. "Yet, would it have hurt you to enter through the restaurant's door?"

He faked a serious face, before answering:"Come on, Misaki-chan, no one can know about the two of us meeting this often, right?" Dairoku winked as they both let a short grin out, and he then quickly opened his back and pulled out a chocolate confection box, a ribbon tied around it. "I brought you this, and thanks for getting me the newer anime while in hospital!"

Misaki smiles, saying: "Oh, my favourite brand. Thank you!" She placed the box in the table, opening it carefully, as one of the waiters received the order to bring a cup of black tea for her fellow Level Five. The Queen of Tokiwadai grabbed one of the chocolates, and another hand followed.

Taking a sip from the cup of tea a waiter had just brought, Dairoku says: "Well, it's a shame I won't be able to have my rematch against Dark Matter. Well, I guess I can still spar against Gunha-kun or perhaps I can tease Shizuri-chan into having a fight as well!".

"How about Touma-kun?"

"Didn't he disappear during World War Three?" Dairoku asked, curious.

"Actually, last night I saw him in the city. Yet I could not have a private time with him, since a lot of other girls were there too. It seems we just can't get a moment alone…"

As Misaki sighed, Dairoku said: "But, my Queen, we both know Touma-kun is a wandering champion, not fit to truly become your King."

Mental Out laughed as she said: "Himizu-kun, you should stop trying to play being my knight. We both know you and the role won't ever fit at all together."

The sixth scratched his head, thinking: "Well, if I can't be your knight, how about your sworn sword?"

"But a sworn sword is just a kind of knight!"

"Oh, well, still it's fun to occasionally act like the knight!"

"And it's proper of you to attempt to behave more like a gentleman. However, I'd rather like you not to risk another visit to the hospital, at least for this week."

"Don't worry; I've been assigned a tutor to help me catch up with studying during the nights, so I won't be going out for fights."

"And who will be tutoring you?"

"I haven't opened the letter yet!" Dairoku took out a sealed letter from his bag, showing it to Misaki, who placed one of her hands on top of it. A mutual nod preceded the opening of the letter.

A folded paper came out, which the espers unfolded with a bit of expectation. Misaki, surprised, said: "She!?"

To the girl's reaction, the teenager then said: "A friend? A rival, perhaps for Touma-kun's heart?" Misaki's face proved the male esper correct, and he quickly placed another chocolate on his mouth, a quirky grin on his face. "Don't worry, she won't steal me from you. I have yet to see a girl more pretty than Misaki-chan in this city."

She let a little laugh as she commented: "You should watch your words, Himizu-kun, someone may think you are interested on me." His laughter followed. He saw pretty girls as attractive, and understood why men got attracted to them, but he just didn't really feel the need for a girlfriend himself, at least for now.

"Shokuhou-sama, who is this…boy?" A voice reached from behind them.

Misaki didn't notice her clique arriving while she was chatting with Himizu, but before she could do anything, the redhead said: "Don't worry; I was just about to leave. Later, Misaki-chan!" The male esper placed one hand on the table as the other grabbed his bag, before moving onto the balcony's ledge, followed by a jump into the air, a small explosion propulsing him higher into the skies.

A smile graced the girl's lips as she saw the bills alongside the half-full box of confections, more than enough to pay for the tea that both had been drinking. 'Well, even if he's far from being a gentleman, he at least tries.' She then quickly removed the memory of the redhead from her followers' memories.

* * *

Boxed outside of his apartment, Dairoku found a couple of sealed boxes; with all the things he had entertained himself with during his stay in the hospital. The male esper smiled as he noticed everything had been kept clean, even if it had probably been charged to his own savings. After checking his supplies of coal and firewood, the redhead headed towards the market, in order to restock his fridge.

As soon as he had stored all the food he had bought, the bell rang. Quickly moving the boxes from the table to the nearby couch, the boy opened the door.

"So you must be Kumokawa-senpai, huh?"

"Yes." The female seemed rather annoyed, prepared for whatever the male might try to pull off.

"Come in." Dairoku guided her towards the table, taking a seat in one of the chairs around it.

Kumokawa sitted at a quarter-circumference away from him, as she placed the books she had brought on the table. A sudden question was then made: "So, you are part of Touma-kun's harem, right?" She blushed and he laughed in reaction to that.

'At least this is counting for my work hours.' Seria prepared herself for what she thought would be four **long** hours. She sighed as she opened one of the books and started explaining.

_Four patience-defying hours later_

The teenager closed the book she had in her hands, as she said: "Well, that will be it for today."

"Kumokawa-senpai, I was thinking of making some barbecue for dinner, want to stay?"

"Thank you, but I don't feel like having meat tonight."

"Oh well, see you tomorrow then, senpai!" Dairoku guided her to the door, and the female left. The male esper then commented to himself: "Oh well, that means I'll have twice as much for myself!"

* * *

Seria looked down at the stack of tied up papers in the which she would be recording Dairoku's information, and she quickly skimmed over the basic information already printed on the first page after the blank cover.

**Subject:** Himizu Dairoku

**Age:** 15

**Designation: **Number Six, Quantum Fire

**Rank:** Level 5

**AIM Range:** 15 meters

**Precognition:** B

**Claivoyance: **C

**Psychometry:** D

**Telepathy:** D

**Psychokinesis:** A

**Retrocognition:** A

The subject is able to set pseudo-matter on flames or make it explode. The capacity to control these is normally under average, yet the subject performs vastly better when creating temperatures (in Celsius degrees) that are an exponential value of six, at a halfway point between both when the temperature is of multiples of six. The subject displays millimetrical control of fire at 1296ºC, and considerable accuracy when using fire at 7776ºC. Based on experiments while at Level 4, the subject should be able to maintain some control over fire of 46656ºC, yet the very dangerous nature of such a high temperature has discouraged anyone from actually testing it. Quantum Fire may be classified as a subset or variance of the more common ability known as Pyrokinesis.

Additional Notes:

The subject will often go on the look for someone to engage in non-lethal combat with, sometimes helped by Number Five, Shokuhou Misaki. The subject prefers to spar with males, the only female esper he constantly engages in combat with being Number Four, Mugino Shizuri, whereas he has engaged in singular combat with male espers of both Level Four and Level Five (Multiple times with Number Seven, Sogiita Gunha, and once with Number Two, Kakine Teitoku). When facing a larger group, however, he doesn't bother figuring out their capabilities beforehand. Luckily, he has yet to meet Number Three, Misaka Mikoto. As a matter of fact, when looking for a sparring partner by himself, the subject will focus on male targets, asking their level before attempting to spar. It is not advised to ask the subject for help with experiments of any kind, as the subject is prone to acting on his own, often disregarding security measures and such. As a part of a mutual agreement with the Board of Directors, the subject abstains himself from appearing in public events, five other students having evidence redirected to them in order to show possibility of them being Number Six. To the public eye and in most records, Dairoku Himizu is a Level Four esper.

Under these notes, Kumokawa scribbled:

-As previous information reports, the subject did not attempt to know the researcher's esper level, given the biological sex of female, nor to engage in sparring.

-While the subject kept playing around with a small fireball during lessons, the subject retained the information almost perfectly at the first explanation; yet he is prone to asking random unrelated questions, without any tact about the matter.

Closing the notebook, Kumokawa sighed, hardening her will to last through the month.

* * *

As the coals in his barbeque grill started to cool down, Dairoku found himself stargazing from his balcony, as his mind fluttered to the encounter that had landed him into the hospital.

_Six Months before_

Kakine Teitoku hadn't had the greatest of nights, and as a matter of fact, he was looking for a way to let out his stored up anger. There were no experiments designed for him to possibly achieve Level 6, given that the project around Accelerator was proceeding so smoothly, and the fact that not even a backup plan had been designed pissed him off. Perhaps a group of trash that thought it was something more would try to assault him. He would show them their places.

Thus, when he heard an explosion from above, he couldn't help but contain a smile. Was someone drawing his attention? And then the boy fell, a few meters away from him. Kakine observed him as he stood up, and said: "Red, wild hair, defiant attitude, savage smile, and perhaps most obvious of them all, a clear lust for battle. You must be Number Six, Quantum Fire, aren't you?"

The boy laughed as he said: "Finally someone that recognizes me at first glance! Shizuri-chan had to ask her AIM Stalker friend to figure out who I was! The name's Himizu Dairoku, and I guess you know what I am here for, Dark Matter."

"I was expecting some trash to come up and challenge me, but someone with a chance to give me some actual entertainment has arrived! Feel free to test your strongest flames against my Dark Matter if you want to."

"Very well, Kakine Teitoku! Here I come!" The redhead then squatted, his arms dropping as if he was exerting no force at all on them, the head lowered, the face hidden under the shadows. Kakine noticed, curious, as twelve long fires formed by the sides and back of Himizu. He could discern half looked like swords, the other half he presumed to be functionally spears.

And suddenly, leaving a small trail of flames, Dairoku moved, performing an arcing charge towards his opponent. Teitoku quickly formed orbs of explosive Dark Matter and sent them flying towards the redhead. Yet the fiery spears flew towards the orbs, mutually destroying each other, as more spears kept spawning from the same spots.

And the challenger was getting even closer to melee range. Kakine understood the situation and quickly created a barrier of heat-absorbing, impact-resistant Dark Matter, as he heard a shout: "FIRESTORM BARRAGE!"

Himizu was wielding one fiery blade in each hand, the other two pairs still floating by his sides. A quick slash with the right sword was followed by a kick from the left leg, the leg surrounded by a wall of fire. The very same moment of contact was taken profit from in order to spin around and land an arcing strike with the left sword, which left the 'shield' as strong as a sheathe of paper against a bullet.

The next kick would be effectively a direct hit, and Number Two wasn't resilient to contact damage. Hell, none of the higher leveled Espers tended to actually raise their resistance to normal fighting techniques, their powers being usually enough to shrug off such things. Teitoku himself was pretty convinced that if someone managed to get past Accelerator's passive vector reflection, a good fist would manage to knock him out. Thus, he quickly leaped backwards, and decided that he had to keep his opponent in the defensive, lest one direct hit open the path for a barrage from which he wouldn't be able to recover from.

Three hits had been more than what he'd expected his barrier would last against a Level Five, heck, he had seen Gunha destroy a rough equivalent with one fist. Yet this one, in compensation for pure power in a single strike, had a well-trained combat technique. Yet this was no trump card: not the Silicon Burn, not the Railgun, not his wings, not whatever the hell Accelerator was keeping hidden.

So he had to force him to use it. Subtly having a particular blob of a very explosive form of Dark Matter move around the location, he sent two massive spears towards Dairoku arcing towards each other, locking him down, a third one, blending in the shadows, close behind, to land the finisher blow. Of course, more of the former orbs kept surging, to keep the constantly spawning flaming spears occupied. The redhead then threw the two swords towards the spears, both destroying each other mutually, and smiled before noticing the trap. '_I got you now'._

Yet the smile quickly reformed, as Quantum Fire took his legs off the ground, rotating backwards. His two hands quickly spun, grabbing a sword each, before sticking them vertically into the ground. Had Kakine's mind been slower, he'd have missed what his opponent did. Using the two impaled swords as support, his body now almost perfectly horizontal in a position that nothing short of a really fit body could have sustained, he retracted his legs and pushed them forwards, a blast of flames surging from it in order to deflect the third lance.

Teitoku had to comment it: "Even as awesome as that looked, it's pretty impractical, don't you think? Now, how do you handle this?" Number Six's wild smile only lasted until the building to his right was pushed towards him by the explosion the blob he had created earlier had caused.

Himizu then prepared his left hand, a dragon head-shaped flame forming around it, and moved it in front of the quickly approaching building. A roar of: "DRAGONBREATH!" was followed as the dragon's mouth opened, a massive burst of flames completely consuming the building, reducing it to smoke immediately. A burning sensation reached Kakine for an instant. Were those the 46656 Celsius degrees flames? Yet he had not stopped preparing more orbs, while the 'Dragonbreath' had probably required Quantum Fire's full concentration, the spears gone, only two fiery blades remaining. And then he sent them all out at once.

His target, after an instant of relief (the left hand had its skin visibly burned though), showed a minor panic, as he shouted: "Disperse!"

The two flaming blades dissolved, each birthing three dozen spears, as some more started to spawn from their usual location. Yet a couple of the orbs sled past, connecting on the target in an explosion. _'And that's it.'_

Yet the boy that had issued the challenge was still on his feet. Visible burn holes were all over his clothing, as well as marks over his skin. His torso was bent forwards, as if he was having difficulty standing up. And he then stood again, turning his face towards the challenged. His eyes were unfocused, his mouth an almost psychotic grin. "What a great fight! There's no way I will lose this one! Let it all burn!"

And a subconscious urge takes over Teitoku, as he as fast as possible creates the largest, sturdiest barrier of Dark Matter he's ever created. A blast of flame propels the redhead forward, his burnt left hand in the front, torso rotated towards the right, his right hand in a fist. And the explosions begin. Around both of his arms, small explosions maximize the angular momentum of his upper torso. And his right arm is completely coated in deadly flames. One final explosion surges from behind the right elbow, as the arm stretches.

And the punch pierces through the barrier. The punch stops millimeters away from Kakine, the flames gone, revealing the roasted skin underneath. Yet the air transmits the remaining strength of the strike, as Kakine is forced backwards, his wings quickly expanding, in order to slow him, yet his back still crashes against the wall. He closes his eyes as his body reacts to the pain, yet he doesn't lose consciousness.

What he does is get back on his feet, and walks forwards towards the now fainted boy. His arms have the outer layer of his skin completely burned, similarly in the lower halves of his legs. The rest of his body has multiple burns, and he looks so frail now. He needs no effort to finish the one that had dared challenge him.

Yet the pure power, the fact that, had Himizu better control of his flames, or had not completely lost himself in the lust for battle and unleashed a nearly suicidal, yet deadly attack; he could have been the one tasting defeat instead. Hell, the very impractical move he had done just before the Dragon Breath costed him two swords, which would have probably sufficed to protect him from the dark matter orbs. Number Six has earned his respect, and therefore he is spared.

His hand moves towards his cellphone, and the screen flickers, a contact named: "Emergency-Heaven Canceller". An old voice quickly answers through the phone: "Dark Matter?"

"Yes. I need you to send up an ambulance to District Seventeen, the southeasternmost open space where they store the construction supplies. I had a battle against Quantum Fire, and he overdid himself."

"Are you sparing him?"

"This once, for he has earned my respect." And because that battle had actually felt good, in hindsight. And while the loser had substained severe damage, his life probably wasn't in danger. Kakine cut off the call before the doctor could say anything else, and as soon as he heard the ambulance approaching, left the location.

**Author's Note: This fanfiction will be a side project until Fire Emblem: Wake up Already! is finished (the next chapter should be up in about a week), alongside a Code Geass fanfic that should be up by the end of August. Both this one and the CG one will have release speeds depending on the amount of attention they gather, so Read and Review, please!**

**Update: So, NT 11 and Railgun 71.2 happened. Given that at this point in the fanfiction I am more comfortable adapting to the current canon, I rewrote a couple part of this chapter to fit. Chapter 2 remains largely unaffected by this (as it will focus on the Gunha-Dairoku interactions) but Chapter 3 may need a little replanning. Will focus back on Wake up Already! as soon as I finish Chapter 2 (and my mind manages to reoutline chapter 3 and some other plot points further down the line).**


	2. Chapter 1

**I'm back! Rejoice!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Toaruverse.**

**Chapter One: Crash course**

The sun had yet to rise, as Dairoku rose from his bed and removed the top piece of his pajamas, leaving him in a pair of really comfy grey pants. He then turned off the electronic alarm, and opened the window to his balcony. With a few explosions, Himizu reached the top of the apartment complex, and took a deep breath.

The esper then started performing different light movements to warm up his muscles, followed by a mild workout. As the redhead finished, he took a deep breath, placing his arms horizontally, fists closed. The redhead then squatted, exhaling slowly as he went as low as possible. The initial stance of his combat style was one that he had to be able to keep as long as possible, either while considering what move to start with, or waiting for the opponent's first move.

Ten minutes…he used to do this without breaking a sweat, but it was starting to get uncomfortable…fifteen minutes…it was hurting, when he'd only start noticing now…twenty minutes…he stood up, feeling pain from multiple parts of his body. He hadn't even lowered himself to the point that he could reach before the fight with Teitoku.

Dairoku stretched once more, and took his initial combat stance, and followed it with another sixty three moves, the basis for his combat technique: the Fire Dragon style, which he had learned a little more than three years ago. Eastern dragons were depicted morphologically similarly to snakes, and the combat style both represented the agility of the latter, along the unstoppable might of the former.

Relaxing his stance, Himizu closed his eyes, and said. "I know you are watching, Sensei."

"I was worried, boy. When I saw the World War III news reports, and even with a couple Japanese-looking boys spotted in Russia, you hadn't appeared in any of them. Knowing you, you'd have been the very first to make your way there the moment the war was declared. You went overboard on a fight and got yourself into a hospital, didn't you?"

"Yes, sensei. How did you figure it out, anyways?" The redhead turned around to face the bald man in monk's clothing.

"You are better than the fools that simply let an overpowering strike hit them directly, and a drawn-out fight would have probably gone in your favor. The discipline you placed in your practice shows you didn't laze off, yet your physical condition, while not terrible, isn't what should be. Therefore, you must have gotten yourself injured in a suicidal attack you did when overwhelmed by your own will to fight. Now, Himizu-kun, what did you learn from this?"

"That I shouldn't have ignored my opponent even when a building was flying towards me?"

The head monk raised a brow at this statement. Honestly, he hadn't expected someone to launch an entire building at his student and prepare a second attack in the meantime. That kind of distractions were supposed to be faced for the first time with a small thing, like throwing daggers or the like: "Well, that's important as well, but more importantly?"

"That even if my soul is burning with the fire at the core of the Sun, I shouldn't let my bloodlust overtake my combat instincts and keep a clear plan for the fight?"

"Was that a question or an answer?" The monk smiled.

"I should always keep a clear battle plan, even when my soul ignites with a blazing inferno in the peak of combat! For I am a Fire Dragon, not just a simple enraged beast!"

"Now that's the way to state it." Dairoku bowed at his teacher, and the monk continued: "Now I have to leave. Represent our style well, Himizu Dairoku!" The older man disappeared in a flash of fire.

Back during his first year at middle school, given the constant reports of misconduct received by his parents, Dairoku had been sent to a Taoist temple over summer to learn discipline. While assigned to cook, the head monk happened to see Himizu igniting a fire with his esper powers. Even when informed that his fire was an esper power and not magic, the monk insisted on training the youngster in his combat technique. The man had seen the fire in the redhead's eyes; and had judged that flame worthy of being given form. After all, he was Mittere 473, the torch that guides through the right path.

Thus, instead of returning with his misconduct 'fixed', Quantum Fire had returned to Academy City as a much stronger fighter, his then level four esper power complemented by a powerful set of melee skills.

* * *

_Three years ago_

"Today we have a transfer student!" Himizu showed mild interested in the teacher's words. There were only about ten thousand level four espers amongst the more than million and a half students in Academy City. Less than one percent chance for the new person to be able to give a good fight, and that was if the esper power was a combat one. Heck, the few level fours who could insight a couple seconds into the future that he had met, hadn't bothered training for combat. "Sogiita-kun, please introduce yourself." Where had he heard that name before?

A black-haired boy entered the class, and Dairoku watched as he wrote his name on the board. "I'm Sogiita Gunha, the Number Five Level Five esper, Attack Crash!" One of the Level Five espers? The redhead smiled, and looked at him. Deep blue eyes met gray eyes. The former's flames met the latter's guts. The born warriors acknowledged each other instantly.

"Sogiita-kun, pick one of the empty-" Gunha moved towards the empty seat next to Himizu, and the entire class gasped. "-seats."

"Himizu Dairoku. Level Four, pyrokineticist, also known as Quantum Fire. After school ends?" The challenge was more than obvious.

"After school ends." Gunha confirmed, and the other students decided that it would be safer for them to head straight to their respective dorms as soon as the classes ended. Over lunch break the information spread to the entire middle school, and even amongst the third-years (a considerable group of which had already been utterly defeated by Himizu), the decision to make clear of the school as soon as the last bell rang was made unanimously.

Fortunately for the students that had been assigned to cleaning the classroom, Dairoku had been assigned to clean as well that day, and Gunha had decided to replace a clearly intimidated boy. And thus, as both headed to the sports field, the last few students broke their long distance running records as they fled from the soon-to-be-warfield. The two remaining youngsters headed to the track course behind the school; a few teachers deciding to watch from a safe distance, namely, from within the school building.

Taking a reasonable distance from each other, the two espers faced each other, their spirits raging in the expectation of battle. Himizu quickly deployed his heat armor: a layer of pseudomatter at 216ºC that coated his body. That temperature was not even close to creating a fire, yet on contact it would cause enough pain for the opponent to pull their hand back.

"Here I come!" Gunha broke the tension as he charged, his left fist ready to strike: "Amazing Punch!" The redhead understood what kind of enemy he was facing, an almost archetypal berserker, that charges with massive power and speed but no skill to complement the other two.

Dairoku moved his left arm to block and redirect the punch and exploit the opening that would follow, yet on the moment the two arms made contact, he felt tremendous pain. The punch had far more strength behind it than what he could have possibly expected. He couldn't resort to blocking at all, it was a matter of dodging and finding the right spot. Also, he noticed that Gunha had not shown any pain from entering in direct contact with his heat armor.

Gunha took distance again, before saying: "Blocking my Amazing Punch directly? That was pretty gutsy of you!"

"Well, your punch was beyond what I had assumed was the power of Level Five! Now, taste my flames!" A small explosion pushed Himizu forward as he made an arc towards Sogiita, and flames quickly coated his left leg, shortly before he launched a spinning kick. Gunha blocked the kick with his right arm, not showing any pain. The redhead moved backwards again before the raven could counter.

The gemstone raised his hand, and Dairoku leaped to the side, barely dodging the explosion that formed where he was. He had ranged attacks as well? The level five didn't give him a moment's breathe as he leaped forward, left fist prepared. Himizu launched a wave of his strongest flames in Sogiita's direction, yet his opponent surged through them, and landed a direct hit on his chest.

Gunha took distance, yet the Level Four stood with his torso lowered, head looking to the ground. The latter felt outclassed, as if he was on a completely separate tier. So this was the power he aimed for? Still, he couldn't just lose to a single direct hit. _He wouldn't accept such a defeat. This was a challenge, and he had to rise up to it._

"Well, guess that's the extent of your guts. It was a-" The apparent victor was saying this as he relaxed himself, before a voice interrupted him.

"Just who the hell-" Dairoku pushed the words out of his mouth, as he started lifting his upper body to face the one he had just marked as rival "-do you think-" he gave a challenging look, taking some air in "-I AM!?" And fire covered the redhead, as his vision went white.

And he noticed his heat armor was on fire. He didn't have the control to use his flames in such a way without burning himself, yet the flames were there. He spent the flames, now annoying with their light, as Sogiita's voice asked: "What did just happened?"

"Haha! So this was how I was supposed to level up! Thanks, Gunha!"

The other level five smiled, and said: "Sure, ready round two?" He cracked his knuckles and returned to a combat stance.

Himizu quickly tested his new powers. _Increase pseudomatter density, alter form into extended length, shape into a cutting edge, and add explosive component on contact_. As six flaming blades forming besides him, and answered: "Of course!" He grabbed one in each hand, the remaining four floating by his sides.

The two of them charged and clashed, as Quantum Fire's sword collided against Attack Crash's fist, deviating it as the former lowered his body. The blade felt like it would shatter on a second block, but twelve blocks without any direct damage was good enough. Sogiita used his other arm to block the slash that followed, yet the arm that had been parried was displaced to the side, and the redhead used the opening to land a fire-coated kick, before leaping back.

"Now that's more like it!" Gunha readied himself, and once again took the offensive, shouting: "Here I come, Himizu Dairoku! AMAZING PUNCH!" His right fist was blocked as Dairoku used both his blades in a cross. The latter didn't wait an instant as both blades shattered, rotating and opening his right hand, sending it in a diagonal direction as it went aflame, aiming for the neck.

As his attack made contact, he felt the air leave his lungs, and he quickly looked downwards, to Gunha's left fist connecting on his abdomen. Both youngsters collapsed, the former falling backwards, the latter coming onto his knees.

The redhead opened his eyes to a smiling face and an extended arm. As he accepted the raven's hand and stood up, Gunha commented: "Good fight, Dairoku-kun."

"Absolutely so, Gunha-kun." A silent agreement between the two to refer to each other by their first name. In battle, they had shown their spirits to each other. "So, want to go eat somewhere? I know a great restaurant nearby."

"Sure! Can't fight on an empty stomach after all." The two of them laughed as Himizu led the way.

* * *

_One month later_

The Level Five esper stood in a room, twelve lit screens in front of him. The Board of Directors' members appeared in each of them, and Dairoku focused on one of them.

"Good morning, Oyafune-obaachan!"

"Good morning to you as well, Himizu-kun"

One of the faces in the screens asked: "Oyafune, where do you know him from?"

"Oh, he sometimes goes and helps at one of the Child Error orphanages. We happened to meet there."

A third member of the Directors coughed, and said: "Now, back on topic. Himizu Dairoku, we'd like an explanation over a few incidents during this months. First and foremost, your nightly activities."

"I take enthusiastic walks under the moon." The redhead smiled.

"Walks through District 10, where you openly look for challenges and beat up anyone there?"

"Very enthusiastic walks."

"Well, at least you haven't killed anyone."

"It'd be too much trouble, and you'd probably scold me for it. And what's the use; if they survive maybe they'll improve before fighting me again!"

"Then the incident where we sent you to the Arctic to free the investigation vessel that had gotten trapped by the ice. In which you allegedly had it stop on the way back for irrelevant reasons."

"Oh, come on, when will I get another chance to fight a ten meters long squid?"

"Of which you didn't even bother bringing back a sample for research. In fact, you sliced a piece of tentacle, and ate it after cooking it on the way back. This is not counting the experiments you interrupted to go out and eat, and the less we speak of what happened at Laboratory 634, the better."

"Yeah, that last one got kinda messy." He scratched the back of his head.

"Kind of!? You know how much we spent covering it up!?" The man that had asked about his meeting with Oyafune shouted.

The Director that had been speaking the resumed: "Therefore, it's in our best interests that you, the new Number Five, will have no name, title, nor photograph associated to. In fact, to the public knowledge, except for any teacher you study under, Anti-Skill, and information available to the other Level Five espers, Dairoku Himizu will be known as a Level Four Esper and any information relative to Number Five, soon to be Six, will be deviated amongst a number of other students in the city. You are also forbidden from publicly revealing this information, family included. This ban extends to a prohibition from entering any sports teams or participating in competitions."

"Wait, soon to be Number Six? Is another esper about to reach Level Five as well?"

"You are forbidden from looking into that, we'd rather not have you skew her development."

"It's a girl? Don't worry then. I wouldn't fight a girl weaker than me!"

"Well, other than that, your monthly allowance will be accordingly increased, and a permission of entry towards the School Garden granted, conditional that you don't start a fight within it. You are dismissed." Eleven of the screens lit off.

"Have a nice day, Himizu-kun"

"See you later, Oyafune-obaachan!" With that, the last screen darkened and Himizu left.

The Board of Directors reconnected to a common server, where one of them asked: "Again, why did we boost a pyrokineticist to Level Five?"

"According to Tree Diagram's calculations, the cost for it wouldn't have been more than what it takes for us to make the average esper reach Level Two. We have yet to figure out why."

* * *

_Back to the current day_

Dairoku moved backwards, while Gunha, on his very last, tried to set up a combo of fists. Yet the former was ready for that, and a tongue of flames lashed towards the latter.

The flaming man on the screen made a victory pose as Dairoku said: "Again, Gunha, you didn't bother blocking. You can't go all out on offense without bothering guarding or moving out of the way of my attacks!"

"Says one of the most aggressive Killer Instinct players, who exclusively plays Cinder?"

"Oh, come on, I play with Glacius and Fulgore sometimes as well!"

"But four out of five times you are still using Cinder!"

"Says the guy that picks Combo half of the matches?"

"Touché. Anyways, it was fun today, Dairoku-kun. See you tomorrow afternoon?"

"I got plans for tomorrow, Gunha. I'll give you a call when I'm free."

"See you another time, then!" As the sound of the door opening was heard, the same voice said: "Dairoku, why's there a girl in front of the door?"

"That must be Kumokawa-sempai. She's been assigned as my tutor." Himizu stood up from the couch, turned off the game system, and went to greet her.

The two exchanged introductions and the redhead was about to let the older student enter his apartment, yet as he was leaving, Sogiita turned around, before saying: "I told Yabumi-kun that you are back. He says we can continue the AS training this Monday night, same place as always!"

As soon as she came inside, Seria asked: "AS training?"

"Oh, it's kind of a secret. Let's just say it involves me and Gunha fighting as a duo." Such a concept spiked the girl's sense of danger and she quickly determined not to ask anymore.

_Four hours later, during which a certain second year highschooler was tricked into revealing her three sizes_

At least it was finally over, and Seria tried to feel relieved as Number Six had promised not to tell her 'ability scores', as the esper had jokingly put it, to anyone. Politely refusing the redhead's invitation to dinner yet again (although he was already in front of the stove and it started to smell nice), Kumokawa headed off to her dorm. At least she didn't have to tutor him during the weekend.

**Bonus Chapter: Modelcase_"QUANTUM FIRE"-Rejected**

The new researcher had just been shown around the FIVE_Over development plant, yet he asked a question borne out of curiosity: "I understand why FIVE_Overs for the Number One, Two, and Seven espers are nigh-unmakeable, but why there aren't any projects for Number Six?"

A deadpan answer followed immediately: "Because there is no need for research to replicate Quantum Fire's power, and we already have something capable of doing it. It's called a nuclear bomb."

**Author's Note: So, I got a good amount of things piled up again. In what matters to fanfiction writing, I should be putting up at least one more FE chapter over November (for real this time). Also, AS training is going to lead up to something really awesome later on.**


End file.
